Visible and near-infrared light tomography has been used to image the interior of tissue media. Diffusion wave tomography has also been used to image tissue. Visible and near-infrared light tomography is limited to relatively small depths of penetration, e.g., on the order of a few millimeters in breast tissue, whereas diffusion wave tomography has relatively poor resolution, e.g., on the order of a centimeter in breast tissue. It would be an advance in the state of the art if a system were developed to overcome the foregoing disadvantages of the prior art. In particular, it would be highly desirable to use visible and near-infrared light to image inhomogeneities, such as tumors, in the interior of the human breast non-invasively with a high degree of spatial resolution.